How to Start Creating Content

TL’DR:

I HATE self promotion…

But self promotion is basically required for any level of success in the world of online business. It took me a while to really get comfortable with putting myself out there.

Here’s a couple mindset shifts that help me get past my fear of posting on social media and the internet in general. Hope they help you too!

In the first year of my podcast, I was getting less than ten downloads per episode because I was afraid to push. The ten downloads were basically me listening from different platforms so I didn’t have zeros on my analytics dashboard.

I didn’t want to annoy my friends that followed me on social media with constantly posting about my podcast. I felt like I’d be seen as salesy or self obsessed if all I talked about was what I was what I was working on.

I kept getting better at interviewing, and the guests kept getting better too. They’d distill the key principles, frameworks, and lessons from their entire careers into an hour long interview. The podcast went from just something I did for fun to actually changing the way I work and heavily influencing the side projects I took on.

And then something changed. A thought started to haunt me.

I felt that these interviews were incredibly valuable, but the only person that was benefitting from them was me.

How many people were stuck in their business or at work and just needed a mental shift that was discussed in one of the interviews? How many people were focused on the wrong things and listening to someone else go through the same thing would’ve given them the clarity they needed? How many people just needed to hear about the difficulties of another founder to know things will get better?

I realized that what I was doing (not pushing my content) was actually selfish. I was keeping all the value for myself.

If you’re having difficulty sharing on social media, remember that sharing is an act of generosity.

Sure, sometimes people will not appreciate your generosity, but that doesn’t matter. True generosity is giving for the sake of giving - not for likes, positive comments, or clicks.

Write that post, tweet that thread, shoot that video. Whatever your method is, just start putting it out there.

Remember, you’re not sharing for yourself, you’re sharing to send the elevator back down.

One of the biggest mental hurdles people face in the content creation journey actually comes before you even create anything.

People often reach out to me when they’re struggling to put out their first post, podcast, blog, video, etc.

For some reason a lot of people have this idea that as soon as you start creating content it HAS to go viral and flood their inbox with leads. They have this false belief that if you post something and it gets no likes and you’re not printing money in ad revenue immediately then you’re a complete failure and you shouldn’t even bother trying.

The fear that they’ll make something and it won’t perform well paralyzes them into not posting anything at all.

But here’s the thing, you don’t just wake up one day as an excellent creator…

No one picks up a basketball for the first time and expects to be Steph Curry.

No one picks up a tennis racket for the first time and expects to be Roger Federer.

No one hits the gym for one day and expects to walk out with a six pack.

Creating content is no different than any other skill that you have to learn and develop over time.

Give yourself room to produce bad stuff, it’s part of the process.

I started the Branding Deep Dive Podcast at a time when everyone and their mom was starting podcasts. It was in 2020 when everyone had a lot more time at home and podcasts are just so easy to create that everyone felt they could make an amazing podcast.

I personally know at least five people that started a podcast around the same time as me.

None of those five podcasts are active today.

Branding deep dive, on the other hand, is still running - although it isn’t the most consistent show ever.

What’s the difference between me and the other people that started around the same time as me?

One word: community.

Shortly after I started my podcast, my friend Rafi started a podcast about fitness. He then also connected me with his friend Asad who had a podcast about religion and spirituality. The three of us instantly hit it off. We ended up starting another podcast together, a podcast about podcasting.

The idea was that we’d record every day and discuss what we were working on with our podcasts. We’d share best practices and steal what was working and avoid what wasn’t working. Rafi stole the way I did my introductions in my podcast and I stole the way he reached out to potential guests. Asad taught us both how to think on our feet.

Not only did this elevate the quality of all of our individual podcasts, but it motivated us to keep creating and keep pushing the bar higher and higher. Had I not had a space to talk to other people on the same journey as me, I probably would’ve stopped at some point.

“I don’t have anything new or interesting to say.”

This is the concern I hear most often when people talk to me about getting started with creating content.

Guess what?

You don’t need anything new or “interesting.”

Just share what inspires you, share your experiences and what you’ve learned from them. It doesn’t have to be unique or different.

We need reminders more than we new tactics or interesting hot takes.

We need reminders to keep going because things will be ok.

We need reminders to not seek our self worth from our monetary accomplishments (or lack thereof).

And most importantly, we need reminders that we CAN take control of our situation.

Remind, don’t revolutionize.